Extraterrestrial life news, features and articles
Are we alone in the universe? Live Science follows the researchers trying to answer that question and reports on what we've learned about aliens. From how scientists search for extraterrestrial life and whether the U.S. government is hiding evidence of "non-human intelligence" to the strange, scientific excuses for why humans haven't found aliens yet and the disturbing reason why aliens may never have visited Earth, our expert writers and editors tackle it all with the latest news, features and articles about extraterrestrial life.
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—Aliens: Facts about extraterrestrial life and how scientists are looking for it
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The government is very serious about UFOs. So why are researchers being stymied?
By Darrell Evans published
An unidentified anomalous phenomena researcher discusses the stigma faced by similar experts conducting their studies into other UAP events while the government continues to release reports on the topic.

Scientists squished microbes into a steel 'sandwich' — and made a profound discovery about life in space
By Damien Pine published
"Extremophile" bacteria could survive asteroid impacts that are strong enough to launch them into space, suggesting that life could travel between planetary bodies.

SETI scientists reveal 100 'signals of interest' from collapsed Arecibo Observatory
By Brandon Specktor published
A crowd-sourced search for alien intelligence called SETI@Home is in its final stages, analyzing 100 'signals of interest' with the world's largest radio telescope.

Advanced alien civilizations could be communicating 'like fireflies' in plain sight, researchers suggest
By Harry Baker published
A new paper posits that advanced alien civilizations may communicate through subtle flashes, like fireflies do on Earth. The thought experiment suggests that we need to avoid human biases in our search for extraterrestrial life.

Scientists are debating a 70-year-old UFO mystery as new images come to light
By Sharmila Kuthunur published
Two new peer-reviewed papers claim thousands of unexplained light flashes in vintage Palomar telescope images show statistical ties to nuclear tests and UFO reports. Not everyone agrees with the paper's conclusion.

Is it aliens? Here's why that's the least important question about 3I/ATLAS.
By Laura Nicole Driessen published
Conspiracy theories have raged about 3I/ATLAS being an unnatural object. But the alien question, while fun, generates misinformation and distracts from the science.

Chinese scientists hunt for alien radio signals in 'potentially habitable' TRAPPIST-1 system
By Mark Thompson published
Researchers in China have conducted the most thorough search yet for alien radio signals in the nearby TRAPPIST-1 system, which may harbor potentially Earth-like planets.

Where could alien life exist in our solar system?
By Damien Pine published
The solar system has eight planets and hundreds of moons. Could extraterrestrials live on any of them?
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